Gareth Evans’ Indonesian action movie The Raid: Redemption (original title Serbuan maut) opens on a static shot of a wristwatch and a gun. It’s an important opening shot because it tells us two things about the film: it’s going to be precise, and it’s going to be violent. The Raid, as you’d expected, revolves around…
The modern trends of B-movie production are on full display in the “they-thought-of-the-title-and-went-from-there” flick Attack of the 50 Ft Cheerleader. It features a handful of D-list celebrities like Sean Young, Treat Williams and Ted Raimi in “starring roles” that were obviously filmed in a day; each is occasionally entertaining but primarily depressing. There’s the now-necessary…
Lately, writing a review of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. feels very similar to writing my upcoming annual student reports, where the primary goal is to seek positive feedback wherever possible. It turns out that it’s easier to find praise for even the least interested Mathematics student than the bland mush being shovelled into a dwindling…
I’ll give Ja’mie: Private School Girl this: it certainly ends strongly. The final episode of this six episode (mini?) series is its strongest of the lot, and it does so by embracing broader comedy rather than adopting Lilley’s usual approach to wrapping up a series (specifically, evoking emotions, which is powerful when done well –…
Cinematic adaptations of popular young adult fantasy series may be guaranteed to rake in the profits, but they’re also guaranteed to bring in the same exact complaints from the fandom every damn time. Specifically, rabid fans of the original novels – whether it’s Twilight, Lord of the Rings or The Hunger Games – always take…
After a fortnight of emotional, stirring pictures at the Brisbane International Film Festival, it seemed only fitting to return to the warm, blood-stained blanket of a dumb ‘80s slasher movie. My Bloody Valentine’s strongest elements aren’t particularly dumb. The setting of an industrial coal-mining town provides a welcome reprieve from the pretty, wealthy teenagers that…
“Clear Brody… what does that even mean?” Good point, Saul. This kind of question demonstrates Homeland’s third season in its strongest mode, questioning the motives and decisions of its increasingly misguided characters. Despite an impressive, strung-out performance from Damian Lewis, Brody remains an albatross around the show’s neck, one that will – if this episode…
12 Years a Slave takes its name from Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, which recounts the true story of how Solomon, a free black man in antebellum (pre-Civil War) America, was kidnapped and sold into bondage in Louisiana. The title tells a casual moviegoer that this is a film about slavery; but it’s the first two…
The original French title for Abdellatif Keciche’s Blue is the Warmest Colour is La Vie d’Adèle (“The Life of Adèle,” for those who flunked French). It’s not hard to see why the title was changed for its English release; Blue is the Warmest Colour is a more intriguing title, and it remains well-suited to the…
Last week’s middling episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was an even mix of good and bad. “The Well,” an insipid tie-in to Thor 2, had a lot of the bad but very little of the good. The links to Thor 2 are unimaginative – they’re literally cleaning up the wreckage – and hanging a lampshade…
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